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NASCAR - Sprint Cup - STP 400 Preview
From The Sports Network
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| DATE: Sunday, April 22nd |
| SITE: Kansas Speedway (2001) -- Kansas City, Kansas |
| TRACK: 1.5-mile oval - 2,685 feet (Frontstretch); 2,207 feet (Backstretch) |
| CAPACITY: 74,000 (Grandstand Seating) |
| ANNUAL: 2nd |
| TELEVISION: FOX |
| ANNOUNCERS: Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds |
| RADIO: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio |
| START TIME: 1 p.m. (ET)/Green Flag: 1:16 p.m. (ET) |
| DEFENDING CHAMPION: Brad Keselowski |
| RUNNER-UP: Dale Earnhardt Jr |
| POLE WINNER: Kurt Busch (Finished 9th) |
| LAPS: 267 |
| MILES: 400.5 |
| QUALIFYING RECORD: Matt Kenseth, 2005 (180.856 m.p.h.) |
| RACE RECORD: Greg Biffle, 2010 (138.077 m.p.h.) |
| TOTAL PURSE: $5,215,984 (2011 figures) |
| PAYOUTS: 1st Place - $216,633; 2nd Place - $181,825; 3rd Place - $183,950 |
| 2011 Finish |
| Finish | Driver | Start | Finish | Driver | Start |
| 1 | Brad Keselowski | 25 | 6 | Matt Kenseth | 21 |
| 2 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | 28 | 7 | Jimmie Johnson | 31 |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | 15 | 8 | Tony Stewart | 13 |
| 4 | Jeff Gordon | 22 | 9 | Kurt Busch | 1 |
| 5 | Carl Edwards | 7 | 10 | Greg Biffle | 14 |
| 2011 STP 400 Facts and Figures |
| AVERAGE SPEED: 137.184 m.p.h. |
| TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 55 minutes, 10 seconds |
| MARGIN OF VICTORY: 2.813 seconds |
| CAUTION FLAGS: 5 for 23 laps |
| LEAD CHANGES: 17 among 9 drivers |
| POLE WINNER: Kurt Busch (174.7526 m.p.h.) |
| Past STP 400 Winners (Starting Position) Car -- Speed |
| 2011 -- Brad Keselowski (25th) -- Dodge -- 137.184 m.p.h. |
| Past STP 400 Pole Winners (Finish) |
| 2011 -- Kurt Busch -- 9th |
| Last Race Results |
| RACE: Samsung Mobile 500 (April 14th) |
| SITE: Texas Motor Speedway -- Fort Worth, Texas |
| MILES: 501 |
| LAPS: 334 |
| WINNER: Greg Biffle |
| RUNNER-UP: Jimmie Johnson |
| THIRD: Mark Martin |
| FOURTH: Jeff Gordon |
| FIFTH: Matt Kenseth |
| POLE WINNER: Martin Truex Jr. (Finished 6th) |
| TIME OF RACE: 3 hours, 7 minutes, 12 seconds |
| AVERAGE SPEED: 160.577 m.p.h. |
| MARGIN OF VICTORY: 3.235 seconds |
| CAUTION FLAGS: 2 for 10 laps |
| LEAD CHANGES: 18 among 7 drivers |
| LAP LEADERS: Truex Jr 1-31, Biffle 32-45, Kenseth 46, Ambrose 47, Biffle |
| 48-68, Truex Jr 69-71, Biffle 72-81, Kenseth 82-95, Biffle 96, |
| Ragan 97, Truex Jr 98-100, Biffle 101-112, Johnson 113-146, |
| Biffle 147, Truex Jr 148-179, Johnson 180-282, J. Gordon 283-284, |
| Johnson 285-303, Biffle 304-334. |
| STP 400 Entry List |
| Car | Driver, Hometown | Car/Name |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray (Joplin, MO) | Chevrolet/McDonald's |
| 2 * | Brad Keselowski (Rochester Hills, MI) | Dodge/Miller Lite |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne (Enumclaw, WA) | Chevrolet/Farmers Insurance |
| 9 | Marcos Ambrose (Launceston, Australia) | Ford/DeWalt |
| 10 | David Reutimann (Zephyrhills, FL) | Chevrolet/Accell Construction |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin (Chesterfield, VA) | Toyota/FedEx Ground |
| 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. (Defiance, OH) | Dodge/SKF |
| 13 | Casey Mears (Bakersfield, CA) | Ford/GEICO |
| 14 | Tony Stewart (Columbus, IN) | Chevrolet/Office Depot/Mobil 1 |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer (Emporia, KS) | Toyota/5-Hour Energy |
| 16 | Greg Biffle (Vancouver, WA) | Ford/3M/Novec |
| 17 | Matt Kenseth (Cambridge, WI) | Ford/Roush Fenway Racing |
| 18 | Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, NV) | Toyota/M&M's |
| 19 | Mike Bliss (Milwaukie, OR) | Toyota/Humphrey Smith Racing |
| 20 | Joey Logano (Middletown, CT) | Toyota/Home Depot |
| 22 | A.J. Allmendinger (Los Gatos, CA) | Dodge/AAA |
| 23 | Scott Riggs (Bahama, NC) | Chevrolet/North Texas Pipe |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon (Vallejo, CA) | Chevrolet/DuPont |
| 26 | Josh Wise (Riverside, CA) | Ford/Morristown Driver's Service |
| 27 | Paul Menard (Eau Claire, WI) | Chevrolet/Menards/Zecol |
| 29 | Kevin Harvick (Bakersfield, CA) | Chevrolet/Rheem |
| 30 | David Stremme (South Bend, IN) | Toyota/Inception Motorsports |
| 31 | Jeff Burton (South Boston, VA) | Chevrolet/Caterpillar |
| 32 | Reed Sorenson (Peachtree City, GA) | Ford/TBA |
| 33 | Tony Raines (LaPorte, IN) | Chevrolet/TBA |
| 34 | David Ragan (Unadilla, GA) | Ford/Barret Jackson |
| 36 | Dave Blaney (Hartford, OH) | Chevrolet/Tommy Baldwin Racing |
| 38 | David Gilliland (Riverside, CA) | Ford/TBA |
| 39 | Ryan Newman (South Bend, IN) | Chevrolet/Haas Automation |
| 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya (Bogota, Colombia) | Chevrolet/Target |
| 43 | Aric Almirola (Tampa, FL) | Ford/STP |
| 47 | Bobby Labonte (Corpus Christi, TX) | Toyota/Reese Tow Power |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson (El Cajon, CA) | Chevrolet/Lowe's |
| 49 | J.J. Yeley (Phoenix, AZ) | Toyota/JPO Absorbents |
| 51 | Kurt Busch (Las Vegas, NV) | Chevrolet/Phoenix Construction |
| 55 | Mark Martin (Batesville, AR) | Toyota/Aaron's Dream Machine |
| 56 | Martin Truex Jr. (Mayetta, NJ) | Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts |
| 74 | Stacy Compton (Hurt, VA) | Chevrolet/Turn One Racing |
| 78 | Regan Smith (Cato, NY) | Chevrolet/Furniture Row |
| 79 | Tim Andrews (Concord, NC) | Ford/BBI Bestway |
| 83 | Landon Cassill (Cedar Rapids, IA) | Toyota/Burger King/Dr. Pepper |
| 87 | Joe Nemechek (Lakeland, FL) | Toyota/AM FM Energy Wood Pellet |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Kannapolis, NC) | Chevrolet/Diet Mt. Dew/Nat Guard |
| 93 | Travis Kvapil (Janesville, WI) | Toyota/Dr. Pepper |
| 98 | Michael McDowell (Glendale, AZ) | Ford/Curb Records |
| 99 | Carl Edwards (Columbia, MO) | Ford/Aflac |
| Leading Contenders (Finish last year) |
| Driver | 2011 | | | | | | | | |
| Brad Keselowski | Won | | | | | | | | |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr | 2nd | | | | | | | | |
| Denny Hamlin | 3rd | | | | | | | | |
| Jeff Gordon | 4th | | | | | | | | |
| Carl Edwards | 5th | | | | | | | | |
| Matt Kenseth | 6th | | | | | | | | |
| Jimmie Johnson | 7th | | | | | | | | |
| Tony Stewart | 8th | | | | | | | | |
| Kurt Busch | 9th | | | | | | | | |
| Greg Biffle | 10th | | | | | | | | |
| Kevin Harvick | 11th | | | | | | | | |
| Kyle Busch | 12th | | | | | | | | |
| Kasey Kahne | 14th | | | | | | | | |
| Ryan Newman | 15th | | | | | | | | |
| Juan Pablo Montoya | 17th | | | | | | | | |
| Clint Bowyer | 18th | | | | | | | | |
| Paul Menard | 19th | | | | | | | | |
| Martin Truex Jr | 20th | | | | | | | | |
| Mark Martin | 21st | | | | | | | | |
| Joey Logano | 23rd | | | | | | | | |
| Jeff Burton | 25th | | | | | | | | |
| Marcos Ambrose | 26th | | | | | | | | |
| A.J. Allmendinger | 27th | | | | | | | | |
| Jamie McMurray | 29th | | | | | | | | |
| Mover of the Week |
| Jeff Gordon - Started in the 34th position and finished 4th |
| Sports Network Selections |
| Pick to Win - Jimmie Johnson |
| Darkhorse - Greg Biffle |
| Last Week's Pick to Win (Carl Edwards) - Finished 8th |
| Last Week's Darkhorse (Jeff Gordon) - Finished 4th |
| NOTES: |
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Winning a Sprint Cup race takes guts, imagination and a little luck.
That certainly was the case last year at the inaugural STP 400 at Kansas
Speedway, as Brad Keselowski captured the checkered flag for the second time in
his career.
Not only was the race a battle of wits and determination, but in the end, it
came down to gas, as Keselowski prevailed in a fuel battle in the closing laps
to hold off Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Currently 15th on the points list, Keselowski took the lead for the first time
with nine laps remaining when his Penske Racing teammate, Kurt Busch, the pole
sitter, was forced to pit and relinquish the top position.
Keselowski then coasted his No.2 Dodge as much as he could during the final
nine laps around the 1.5-mile racetrack. Earnhardt Jr, who also took a gamble
on gas, was quickly chasing down Keselowski, but fell short of ending his
lengthy winless streak in NASCAR's top series. This was the second straight
week in which Earnhardt Jr finished in the runner-up position, as he ran out of
fuel on the last turn of the final lap in Charlotte.
Of the previous 12 Sprint Cup races held at Kansas Speedway, two have been won
by the pole sitter, the last coming in 2008 when Jimmie Johnson accomplished
the feat. Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle are two-time winners at this track,
while Johnson has sat on the pole three times. Seven of the 12 races have been
won from a top-10 starting position.
Sprint Cup points leader Greg Biffle might be the driver to beat this week, as
he has posted five top-10's and one win in seven starts this year. His record
at Kansas Speedway is equally impressive. In nine Nationwide starts he has
eight top-10s and in 11 Sprint starts, Biffle has eight top-10s and two wins.
Completed in 2001, Kansas Speedway will be repaved following this week's race.
The next Sprint Cup Series race is the April 28th running of the Richmond 400
at Richmond International Raceway. Kyle Busch is the defending race winner.
04/17 14:48:47 ET
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As of April 17, 2012, at 02:48 PM ET
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